At least three buildings were apparently struck by lightning Sunday night as thunderstorms rolled through sections of western and southern Maine.

Lightning strikes were reported in Westbrook, Buxton and Portland by officials and observers. A dispatcher for the Cumberland County Communications Center also reported that lightning struck a communications tower, but did not affect the 911 emergency dispatch system.

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In Westbrook, a fire dispatcher said officials believe lightning struck a building in Clearwater Bend Apartments, at 27 Reed St. There were no reports of injuries, but it did set a building on fire.

There were also reports of structure fires – possibly caused by lightning strikes – at 331River Road in Buxton and at 62 State St. in Portland.

The storms swept through the region between 7 and 9:30 p.m. Eric Schwibs, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said the storms moved offshore but brought much-needed rain to the state.

Central Maine Power Co. reported 8,771 outages in its service area as of about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, mostly in Waldo, York and Cumberland counties.